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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

As I was playing with the fun polishes of the Nicki Minaj collection, I couldn't help but think they would be perfect for a peacock manicure. Somehow I managed to use every single color from the collection. I started out with Metallic 4 Life as a base and added a little pink heart using Pink Friday. Then, alternating Fly and Did It On 'Em I added the "barbs". Next followed the Supper Bass Shatter in the middle of the pink heart and down the center of the feather. I topped the whole thing off with a few touches of Save Me using a detail brush and covered the whole thing with two layers of top coat.

I think the colors are perfect for a peacock manicure, I'm just not sure I'm pleased with my execution of it. It looks better from a distance and I definitely need more practice. Here is what I ended up with...

Monday, January 30, 2012

Today I have swatches of the OPI Nicki Minaj collection that I have been playing with over the weekend. The collection contains three creams, two glitters and a shatter. It is a fun collection so take a look at the photos (be warned, there are a lot of them) and let me know what you think :)

Did It On 'Em
This is a chartreuse cream which kind of caught me off guard. I did not expect to like the color as much as I did. I have no idea how, but it made my nails appear narrower and longer. You won't hear me complaining about it... Application was good. I used three coats plus a top coat for the full even coverage in these photos...

Fly
A beautiful teal cream. This one applied thin with the first coat, but did build up very nicely. Make sure to use a nice base coat with this one as it did stain my nails blue (I was lazy and skipped the base coat... lesson learned). The photos below are three coats plus a top coat...

Pink Friday
A sweet pink cream. This one was a bit thicker than the other creams and therefore only required two coats for full coverage. Definitely a shade I would reach for if I needed something quick, clean and work friendly. Didn't expect to find such a shade in a Nicki Minaj inspired collection, but I like it. This it two coats with a top coat...

Metallic 4 Life
A black jelly base with small square and larger hex silver glitter. I love this one. The silver makes a nice pop against the black. It had full nail coverage at two coats, but I applied three just to get more glittery goodness. These are with one layer of top coat...

Save Me
This glitter consists of small silver glitter in addition to blue and holographic bar glitter. I am not sure how many coats of this it would take to get full coverage, but I did not try it on its own. I consider this a layering glitter. The holographic glitter was hard to capture in the photos although it was not at all shy in real life. You can see it best in the bottle of these swatches. I applied one coat plus a top coat over all three creams in the collection...

Super Bass Shatter
A purple shatter which as far as I'm concerned works well over any color in the collection. My favorite combo though was with Did It On 'Em. I like the contrast in this case. What makes this shatter special is that it is not a cream, but a strong purple shimmer instead. I applied one coat of shatter over the above cream with Save Me combinations...

Sunday, January 29, 2012

It is a good thing that I'm stubborn because otherwise I would have given up on this manicure about five takes ago. It was just one of those days when everything falls, acetone spills, the tape rips off the layers underneath, and just when you redid the problem nail(s) for the 3rd time and it is as good as it will get given the circumstances you bump it into something. Ugh! However, I'm glad that I didn't give up because I actually like what I came up with for this week's Sunday Stamping Challenge. The challenge was simply to make a manicure using any stamping plate that ends in 7. The hardest part is having too many choices :)

For the manicure I started out with a coat of Zoya Stephanie then added french tips using Wet 'n Wild French White Creme and topped it off with a second coat of Stephanie. The flowers were stamped using Color Club Hot Like Lava and Ebay plate m07. Flower centers were added using Sally Hansen Celeb City. I had originally intended for the bottom branch to lie along the tip of the nail, but since I stamped lopsided, I added a slanted tip using Hot Like Lava to accentuate the slope. Let's just pretend that I intended it the whole time because I like it so much more with the foil tips than as just a plain french mani...

I have swatched Zoya Stephanie before, but that was on my little shortie nails, so here are some fresh swatches. This is three coats plus a top coat. Application was good, but not perfect. I kept getting bald spots that did eventually even out by the third coat. The color is lovely, a sheer peachy pink. Perfect for a french mani or on it's own since it covers nicely by three coats.

I love wearing sheers like this by themselves quite a bit. In fact, before I
started blogging I used to wear sheers all spring/summer and dark colors
fall/winter. Just take a look at my first Zoya haul back in May of last
year... oh how different that order would be now... :D

Saturday, January 28, 2012

I got tagged with two more awards this past week. I'm so flattered that they picked me. Hopefully you guys are not sick of reading about me :)

First is the One Lovely Blog Award from Minnie of Mini Nail Blog. I have been following her for quite a while and she does some amazing nail art, so make sure to check her blog out. Thank you so much Minnie!

The rules:

1) Link back to the person who awarded you.

2) Tell seven random things about yourself.

3) Award this to 15 other blogs

The Randomness:

1. I keep every greeting card I get. Makes me smile when I look back at them.

2. I'm neat and organized at work (clutter drives me crazy), but my desk at home is a complete mess...

3. My favorite show right now is Rules of Engagement. So funny!

4. I have about 450 nail polishes and running out of room to store them. Never thought I could accumulate so much in one year :)

5. I don't like dim lights or when it is dusky outside. I'm usually the first to turn lights on...

6. I share my birthday with my nephew and love it. He was born on my 25th and we have been blowing out our birthday candles together every year since then :)

7. I'm bad at small talk and have a hard time coming up with random things to talk about (or about me) ;)

The second award is the I Love Your Blog Award from Kirsten of Geeky Owl. Her blog I just discovered through being tagged, but it is really cute, so make sure to check it out as well. Thank you very much Kirsten!

The rules:

1) Link back to the person who awarded you.

2) Answer the questions

3) Award other blogs

The Questions:

1. What is your favorite fashion magazine?
None. I have not subscribed to any fashion magazines in ages, but I do look at Glamour & Allure websites occasionally :)

2. Who is your favorite singer/band?
There are no favorites... only ones I like and ones I don't like. I can pretty much listen to Rob Thomas or Nickelback all day long... Their voices are mesmerizing :)

UPDATE: I miss read the question and answered "where do you live?" Sigh! Blame it on lack of sleep...
I would like to live somewhere warm and beachy... the Greek Islands look nice :)

6. What is your favorite film?
Dirty Dancing, have seen it soooo many times :)

7. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
At least 50... lots of boots and sandals. Funny thing is 99% of the time I'm wearing my Dansko clogs. They are the only thing I can wear to work that won't kill my feet. :)

8. What is your favorite color?
No favorites, I like black/gray/brown for what I wear a lot. In terms of nail polish color I'm still only discovering the possibilities...

Friday, January 27, 2012

Today I have another Pure Ice Crackle & Ice Duo set to share with you. This one contains a gold glitter numbered 582CP and a black crackle named Strobe Light. This was my first time layering a crackle over a glitter and I love it. As always, just imagine this 100 times more sparkly in real life. I just keep wiggling my fingers and staring at the sparkle. Strobe Light crackled quickly and evenly. I had no problems with application at all.

On it's own the gold glitter is very pretty as well. The glitter is comprised of small mostly gold, but also some copper particles. It is very dense and covers well. Two coats for full coverage with no visible nail line. Can easily be worn on it's own. I topped it off with two layers of top coat to get a smooth finish...

Thursday, January 26, 2012

I didn't actually watch the golden globes, but I did see photos of the beautiful dresses online and couldn't help but be inspired. One of them was the elegant dress worn by Angelina Jolie. I wanted to recreate the sharp bright red triangle against a pale pearly backdrop for the manicure.

To achieve this I used Sinful Colors Tokyo Pearl, then taped off the nails and added the accent using Wet 'n Wild Caught Red Handed. The red bled from under the tape in a few spots, but overall I'm really pleased with how these turned out...

On it's own Tokyo Pearl is a white pearl frost. It starts out very sheer, but does build up nicely. I applied three coats and the nail line was only barely visible. My problem with these types of polishes (and this was no exception) is not their sheerness, but the streaking. It is not forgiving to imperfect application and shows every flaw. In addition dry time even with a fast drying top coat was painfully slow. I waited an hour before applying the tape and still had problems. It was cute for a manicure, but not a polish I would reach for if I needed something quick.

About Me

I am a self proclaimed craft nerd. I love all things crafty and will try just about any of it. Favorite hobbies include carving candles, decorating cakes, and making jewelry. In my free time, I love to play with nail polish! Questions/comments? Feel free to contact me at angalek@gmail.com